Bloomberg Ignazio Visco will defend the Bank of Italy’s oversight of the country’s lenders this we- ek after a crisis that led to taxpayer-funded bailouts, losses for small investors and a damaged reputation for the financial system abroad. As a two-and-half month probe by the country’s parliament into the industry comes to an end, Visco will make his long-awaited appearance …

Bloomberg The pace at which the Bank of Japan is expanding its massive hoard of bonds will continue to slow in 2018, according to the majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The central bank will increase its Japanese government bond holdings by about 44 trillion yen ($392 billion) next year, according to the average estimate in the survey. That’s well …

Bloomberg Three Fed rate hikes, two major European elections and the biggest drop in China’s currency since 2008 would normally make for a busy year for macro traders, leaving them optimistic come bonus time. Not this year. Investors haven’t found much to compel them to step up bets on the directions of interest rates and currencies in 2017, driving sharp …

Bloomberg Coal may have fallen out of favour in China, North America and Europe but India and other Asian nations will ensure the dirtiest fossil fuel continues to supply more than a quarter of the world’s energy. Rapid economic development in parts of Asia will rely on coal-fired plants, the International Energy Agency said in its Coal 2017 market report. …

Bloomberg Oil extended gains toward $58 a barrel as US drillers targeting crude reduced the rig count for the first time in four weeks. Futures added 0.7 percent in New York after rising 0.5 percent. US explorers trimmed the number of rigs by four to 747 last week, according to Baker Hughes data. Hedge funds have boosted bets on rising …

Bloomberg China’s plan to introduce a system to monitor and evaluate the solar-power market will help direct new investments to regions where fewer plants are idle, according to industry researchers. The policy, which targets mostly ground-mounted projects, will provide data on where to avoid and where to invest, so it “will alleviate some idle solar capacity,” said Peng Peng, director …

Bloomberg Nigeria’s rush to keep its citizens supplied with fuel is expected to boost purchases of European gasoline in December, offering a potential respite to European refineries and storage terminals threatened by an oversupply that has battered margins. Nigeria has been on a gasoline buying spree after fuel queues built up at filling stations this month, even as the government …

Bloomberg China has ordered the country’s biggest explorers to cut their use of natural gas to divert more of the fuel to the north, where a harsh winter is causing shortages. China National Petroleum Corp., China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. should reduce the consumption of natural gas in their refineries, oil drilling and liquefied natural gas …

Bloomberg Many of the cargo containers passing through India’s busiest port in Mumbai have a small piece of Japan Inc. attached: Devices from NEC Corp. that can be tracked as the containers rumble through the interior of Asia’s third-largest economy. The partnership between NEC and the port illustrates the strengthening relationship between Tokyo and New Delhi. Japan is seeking growth …

Bloomberg Adani Enterprises Ltd. will build Australia’s largest coal mine by itself after canceling a planned $1.5 billion deal with Australia’s Downer EDI Ltd. to help construct the Carmichael project in Queensland state. Adani and Downer mutually agreed to cancel all letters of award for work on the mine first made three years ago, Adani’s Australian unit said. The decision …